Vitamin Flintheart
Vitamin Flintheart is an actor and friend of Dick Tracy. He occasionally found himself on the wrong side of the law and he crossed paths with several of Tracy's more notable rogues, including Flattop, Blowtop, Measles, Influence, and Shaky. Vitamin frequently eats vitamin pills and drinks Bromo-seltzer, an antacid. He has a distinctive moustache and he habitually addresses Tracy as "Richard". Early in his career, Vitamin appeared in a series of "B" Westerns as "Blowhard", the sidekick of cowboy hero Vista Bill. His television debut was as a monster on the series "Captain Video". Vitamin Meets Dick Tracy and Flattop Vitamin first met Dick Tracy when Vitamin became an unwitting accomplice of Flattop. At the time, Vitamin was living in a cheap hotel, aged 50, and was considering a Hollywood comeback. Flattop, fleeing police, ducked into Vitamin's unlocked room to hide, and Flintheart introduced himself. When Flattop saw that Vitamin had a makeup case, he knocked the actor unconscious and disguised himself. Tracy and Pat Patton were searching the hotel and found the injured Vitamin. Tracy tracked Flattop to a movie theater, where Vitamin incorrectly identified a young man wearing the wig Flattop had stolen, which nearly got the young man shot by police. Despite the fact that Vitamin was clearly overcome with guilt and remorse, Pat gave Vitamin Flattop's gun to hold. With his nerves shaken, Vitamin went to a nearby bar where he had several drinks. Reaching into his pocket to get money to pay his bar tab, he unwittingly drew Flattop's gun. The bartender believed he was being robbed and panicked. Vitamin accidentally dropped Flattop's gun which went off and wounded the bartender. Vitamin then panicked and fled. Vitamin later gave himself up and was put into a holding cell across from the recetly captured Flattop. Tracy's investigation of the shooting showed that it was a accident, which the bartender confirmed. Before Vitamin could be released, Flattop overpowered a jailor and escaped using Vitamin as a hostage. Vitamin was present while Flattop was hiding out in the replica of the Santa Maria where the notorious killer eventually met his end. The Summer Sisters and the Brow Later that year, Vitamin became smitten with the talent of the Summer Sisters. However the two girls refused to work for him because they mistakenly believed him to be a police spy, due to Vitamin's habit of spending time with his friend Tracy at police headquarters. They refused his proposal by slapping him in the face, prompting Vitamin to follow them and takes down their address, which would later be helpful to Tracy in catching the Brow. Snowflake and Shaky Vitamin met and married the actress Snowflake Falls after she was freed from the influence of Shaky. On their honeymoon, the couple was confronted by the young criminal Measles, who was fleeing police. Vitamin was defiant, but did as Measles requested, out of concern for Snowflake's safety. Measles eventually fled without harming the newlyweds. Themesong and Influence Vitamin later fell on hard times after losing a significant amount of money in a casino owned by Influence. Vitamin managed to purchase and operate a hamburger stand in the City, and became the performance tutor of the young girl singer Themesong. Vitamin and Themesong had an acrimonious relationship, but Vitamin carried on out of deference to his friend Christmas Early, who had become Themesong's guardian. Vitamin was eventually found by Influence, who hypnotized and humiliated Vitamin as part of a revenge plot. Vitamin in the 50s Shortly before Vitamin met Blowtop, Snowflake passed away from an illness. Vitamin disguised his grief with his usual bravado. When young Sparkle Plenty became a popular television performer, Dick Tracy recommended to B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie that Vitamin should act as Sparkle's manager. Gertie was charmed by Vitamin's flattery, but B.O. took offense. Sparkle sided with her father and voice displeasure about working with Vitamin. In spite of this, Vitamin had the child's best interests at heart and acted on her behalf. Vitamin was targeted by the extortionist T.V. Wiggles, who threatened to harm Sparkle unless Vitamin paid him a percentage of her earnings. Vitamin agreed, fearing for Sparkle's safety. Wiggles later attracted the attention of the police and was killed while trying to evade capture. After this, Vitamin was absent from Tracy's life for a long period of time. Vitamin Returns Years later, Vitamin enjoyed a renewed public interest in his work. This prompted him to lend his name to a line of vitamin pills, and he scheduled a television appearance in Dick Tracy's city to promote the product. At the television station, he became the target of a murder attempt by the Brow's Son (who was acting under instructions from Angeltop). Vitamin was shot, but survived. During the period in which Big Boy had issued his Open Contract on Dick Tracy, Tess and Honey were sent to California to stay with Vitamin, in order to put them out of harm's way. Vitamin was instrumental in the safe birth of Tess Tracy's second child, and the boy was given the middle name "Flintheart" in honor of his benefactor. In 1981, Vitamin opened a dinner theater in the City, and secured Hollywood star B.U. Tiffil for the first show. The production was plagued by sabotage attempts, but Vitamin was able to maintain composure. In 1983, Vitamin seriously considered becoming a client of the cryogenics specialist Dr. Kryos Freezedrei after the aging actor began to have concerns about his mortality. This led to Tracy's involvement with the revived criminal Pruneface. Years later, Vitamin was co-starring in a production of the play "Sleuth" alongside actor Barry Moore when Moore was killed and and had his identity usurped by the revenge-seeking Harley Niav, aka Putty Puss. Niav's features began to "melt" on stage during a performance, which prompted Dick Tracy to interrupt the show and attempt to apprehend him. Vitamin tried to maintain the integrity of the production, but was unable to do so. Vitamin had a wax musuem at the Land O' Plenty theme park, which featured wax figures of many of his more memorable roles. In 1990, Vitamin become involved with the production of the feature film "The Dick Tracy Story". He also became engaged to Fame, a young starlet. Tracy suspected that Fame was using Vitamin to further her career. When Fame fell/jumped to her death from the Hollywood sign, she survived just long enough to tell Vitamin that she loved him before she died. Tracy had doubts about her sincerity, but he kept them from his grieving friend. A year later, Vitamin became the public spokesman for a line of health supplements called Multi-Pills. Vitamin was unaware that the products had no legitimate health benefits (and that his own positive reaction to them was entirely psychosomatic). When the truth about Multi-Pills was discovered, Vitamin became embroiled in a plot involving blackmail and murder. He aided Dick Tracy in tracking down the criminal Fastlane, then resolved to return to his work in the theater to re-establish his legitimacy. In 1998, Vitamin was living in New York City, appearing in a production of Hamlet. He discovered his friend Dick Tracy, who was suffering from memory loss after eating tainted food on an airline. Vitamin was subsequently drawn into the case of Sal Monella. Tracy regained his memory and tracked the tainted food to Monella's factory. Vitamin joined Tracy, and the two men were captured by Monella and gang. The two men were locked in an industrial freezer, then placed in a large meat grinder. Tracy was able to free them, and they were joined by FBI Agent Kelley. The group tracked Monella and his gang to nearby landfill. Vitamin accidentally activated the trash compactor, not realizing that Monella and his men were hiding inside. The criminals were crushed into cube shapes, but apparently survived and escaped. In 2005, Vitamin was seeking work from the U. Crumb Talent Agency, along with a failed stage magician, Moonrock. Crumb got a job for Vitamin, starring in a play opening in Tracy's city, but turned down Moonrock. When Moonrock mastered the art of mesmerizing only to be coerced by the crooks Cy Chotic and Scratchy into using his mesmerizing to commit robberies, they chose the theater Vitamin was performing at for their first robbery on the play's opening night. The crooks shut down all the theater lights, then turned them back on once Moonrock came on center stage. Moonrock mesmerized the audience, whom the crooks then looted. After that disastrous opening night, the play was closed, but Tracy then hired Vitamin to perform at a lavish police gala to be attended by the town's wealthiest citizens to lure the crooks into a trap. Tracy's plan was that once the crooks turned off the lights and Moonrock reached center stage, he would fall through a trapdoor and be quickly wrapped up in a tarp before he could mesmerize the cops trying to arrest him. But the plan went awry because Moonrock had been forced to stay up all of the previous night to mesmerize some more crooks to take part in the robbery, and was so exhausted he wandered onto the stage before the lights went out and promptly fell asleep upstage. Thus, when the lights went out, it was Vitamin who was still standing at center stage and fell through the trap door and was wrapped up in a tarp. By the time the tarp was unwrapped to reveal a very indignant Vitamin, Moonrock had woken up and escaped. Vitamin Returns, Again In 2012, Vitamin acted as the Mole's agent when Mole agreed to appear in a wrestling match against Thunderchild. Later that year, Vitamin appeared at a retrospective/convention of Vista Bill films, where he discovered a murder victim, Arthur Curry. He did not hesitate to delay his personal appearance and notify his friend Dick Tracy. Also in 2012, Vitamin met the winner of the Sunny Wheat cereal Vitamin Flintheart look-alike contest, an elderly gentleman named Walt Wallet. Vitamin introduced Walt to Tracy, and was surprised to learn that they were already acquainted. Tracy pointed out that Walt doesn't look much like Vitamin, but Vitamin disregarded this. Vitamin later became the object of a confidence scam by the film "archivist" Silver Nitrate and his sister Sprocket. Nitrate approached Vitamin, claiming to have recovered film of Vitamin's first-ever television appearance on an episode of "Captain Video". Nitrate showed Vitamin (and his associate Mary Perkins) a short clip which seemed to validate his claim. Nitrate demanded $300,000 from Flintheart for the complete film. It was later discovered that the film clip was a fraud, produced by Nitrate using a look-alike for Vitamin. Whether this is connected to the Sunny Wheat look-alike contest remains to be seen. Further Adventures and a New Love In 2014, Vitamin dressed his financial adviser (Coffee Grounds) as Vista Bill to visit an ailing child in the hospital. On leaving the hospital, Grounds fired his prop gun to scare an attacker away from a young woman in the parking lot. Unbeknownst to them, the "attacker" was Gruesome, who was attempting to return the woman's dropped car keys but inadvertently frightened her by his appearance. Shortly thereafter, Vitamin began rehearsal for a production of the play "Arsenic and Old Lace". The cast also included Gruesome and Agate Aggie. Vitamin was approached by the young filmmaker Kandikane Lane, who wanted to make a documentary about the actor. Vitamin agreed, and he soon found himself having romantic feelings about the younger woman. Appearances in Other Media 1940s Feature Films Vitamin Flintheart was a character in 2 of the theatrically-released Dick Tracy movies produced during the 1940s, starring Morgan Conway and later Ralph Byrd. Vitamin was played by actor Ian Keith in "Dick Tracy Vs. Cueball" (with Conway) and "Dick Tracy's Dilemma" (with Byrd). "Dick Tracy in B Flat" Vitamin Flintheart was a character in the humorous radio play "Dick Tracy in B Flat", produced for Armed Forces Radio in February of 1945. He was played by Frank Morgan. "Dick Tracy in the Case of the Midnight Marauder" Vitamin was a supporting character in the audio story The Case of the Midnight Marauder, ''which was released as a double-78 rpm record set by Mercury Records in 1947. In the story, Vitamin meets Tracy and Pat Patton (apparently for the first time) in Miami, then becomes embroiled in their encounter with Flattop. Vitamin was played by Cliff Sobier. 1950s TV Series Vitamin Flintheart appeared as a character in the 1950s ''Dick Tracy television series starring Ralph Byrd. Vitamin was played by actor Richard Kean. In one episode, Vitamin was framed for murder by B-B Eyes, with whom he had been operating a drama school. Movie Continuity Vitamin Flintheart did not appear as a character in the 1990 Dick Tracy featire film or the comic book tie-in. He was, however, a character in the novelization by Max Allan Collins, and in Collins's two follow-up novels Dick Tracy Goes to War and'' Dick Tracy Meets His Match. In ''Goes to War, Vitamin had purchased the nightclub formerly operated by Big Boy and had turned it into a venue for the USO called the Stage-Door Canteen. He employed several musical acts including the Summer Sisters, 88 Keyes, Spike Dyke and his band, and the singer Black Pearl. Unbeknownst to Vitamin, his club was also the headquarters for the subversive Mrs. Pruneface. When a rift developed between Dick Tracy and Tess Trueheart, Vitamin observed Tess' activities in the company of 88 Keyes and reported this to Tracy. Later, when Tracy learned of Mrs. Pruneface's activities, he acquired the keys to the building from Vitamin in order to stage an early-morning raid. Vitamin, distraught over learning how his club had been used, turned over management to the USO. In Meets His Match, Vitamin had enjoyed a brief career resurgence on television. However, the ratings for his show had declined, resulting in its cancellation. Vitamin then became the talent agent for the newly-popular Sparkle Plenty, which embroiled him in the case of the murder of Ted Tellum and the extortionist T.V. Wiggles. Notes *In his first appearance, Vitamin claimed to be fifty years old. *Among his other film credits, Vitamin lists "English Summer", "The World's A Stage", "The Lewis and Clark Story", "The Bowery Boys Meet the Bard", & "Abbott and Costello Meet Columbus". * Vitamin claimed to have known the famous Gish sisters, Lilian and Dorothy. *Vitamin was, to some degree, inspired by real-life actor John Barrymore, who was a highly-regarded (if scenery-chewing) Shakespearean actor. *Perhaps more than any other character, Vitamin has gone through several alternating periods in the strip as a prominent supporting player followed by long periods of years (and in one case, decades) of total inactivity where he's neither seen nor mentioned. **In his debut year of 1944, he managed to be involved in cases with all three of that year's major villains: Flattop, the Brow (the only one of the three Vitamin never actually met), and Shaky. In early 1945, he and his young bride Snowflake took a train to Hollywood where they had a brief encounter with Measles, then resumed their trip to Hollywood. **Vitamin turned up again a year and a half later in late 1946, just in time to run afoul of Influence. The Influence case stretched into the early months of 1947, at the end of which case, Vitamin returned to Hollywood. **Vitamin wouldn't be seen again for another three years. When he did turn up again in 1950, he was involved in two back-to-back cases with Blowtop and T. V. Wiggles. **During the Wiggles case, Vitamin became Sparkle Plenty's manager, suggesting he was gaining a semi-permanent role in the strip. Instead, Vitamin abruptly vanished without explanation at the end of the Wiggles story. He wouldn't be seen or mentioned again for the remaining 27 years Chester Gould was working on the strip. **When Gould's successor, Max Allan Collins, took over, he made bringing back Vitamin a top priority, making Vitamin a semi-regular supporting character from 1978 to 1983, then again after a four year absence, from 1987 to 1991. **Collins' successor, Mike Kilian would use Vitamin only twice: in the first Sal Monella case in 1998, and in the Moonrock case in 2005. **Kilian's successor, Dick Locher, wouldn't use Vitamin during his entire five year run (2006-2011). **Locher's successor, Mike Curtis brought back Vitamin in 2012, and he's now gone back to being a prominent, semi-regular supporting player up to the present. Category:Actors Category:Widowers